


Makeshift Christmas

by kiddle



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Airports, Christmas, Christmas Eve, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 08:45:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8972560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiddle/pseuds/kiddle
Summary: Everyone knows Christmas Eve is one of the worst days of the year to be at an airport. Louis didn't care about that fact too much when he booked a trip home to see his family for the holidays. What he wasn't expecting was the hours of delay caused by a snow storm, or to meet someone to keep him company.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Christmas has me feeling extra sentimental this year for some reason, so I decided to take it out in a bit of writing. My Christmas fic last year was a little too heavy on the heartbreak so I decided to try for a story with a bit more cheer this time around. I hope you enjoy!  
> Happy Holidays!

Out of the large window near his terminal, Louis watched the flurries of snow whirling through the night sky. He was slouched low in his seat, arms crossed over his chest and head leaning on the top of the short back rest. For the thousandth time today, he sighed and clicked his phone on. The time was nearing 8pm. He’d been at the airport since noon, repeatedly being promised his delayed flight would only take one more hour, two more hours, thirty minutes. But still, the storm wasn’t lightening up.

Louis needed to be home for Christmas. It was the first time in years that his entire family was able to make it home for the holidays. If he could’ve left early, Louis would have done it in a heartbeat. But work got so busy during the holiday season that he was lucky he could even step away for the week he was going to be back home.

Once more he checked the time on his phone. Only a minute had passed and his battery was at six percent. He was going to have to find somewhere to plug it in soon if he didn’t want to be without it by the time he actually got on the flight.

Sitting up straight and pulling down the sleeves of his red cable knit sweater, Louis looked down at his small suitcase as if it would give him some sort of idea of what to do to cure his boredom. He looked around briefly at the people surrounding him in the terminal. There were about twenty or so, not quite enough to fill the small plane. Louis wondered if the others had given up waiting or were just smart enough to book their flight for earlier than Christmas Eve.

Directly across from him were a mother and daughter, the mother reading a book while the little girl who couldn’t be older than five or six, lay across the two seats beside her and brushed the hair on her doll. In the row behind them was an older gentleman wearing a snow hat that covered up to the top of the grey stubble on his cheeks. Quite a few times Louis noticed him cough into a handkerchief as he flipped through a newspaper.

In the back corner sat two teenagers, looking to be either twins or brother and sister who looked very similar. They sat with two seats between them, but spoke to each other occasionally when one looked up from their phone. Louis wondered how they could go so long without charging theirs and still be using them.

This thought brought him back to his own phone. He needed a plug-in, preferably one in this terminal so he was nearby when any updates were made regarding the flight.

Deciding to abandon his seat, Louis stood up with his suitcase in hand, and crossed the room to the back wall where he could see quite a few others had the same idea. In fact, every plug in seemed to be taken up except one. Since it was his only option, he approached the last plug-in in the back corner near the women’s washroom where a boy was sitting against the wall, only taking up the left socket.

“Mind if I share this socket with you?” Louis asked the boy, already kneeling down to open his suitcase and search for his charger.

The boy looked up from his own phone, just realizing Louis’ presence. His hair was long and seemed to be curly from the way it was pulled back into a bun. A black knee-length jacket hung from his shoulders, but it was open revealing a white t-shirt and dark blue skinny jeans. His long legs were stretched in front of him and crossed at the ankles.

“Oh, no, go ahead.” The boy motioned to the other side of the socket and scooted over a bit to give Louis more room.

“Thanks,” grinned Louis as he plugged in the charger and waited for his phone to ding signalling that it was charging.

He leaned his back against the wall and let himself slide down until he was sitting as well. First he checked his texts, replying to his mum and sisters to tell them how sorry he was about being late, then checked his Twitter and Instagram briefly before giving up. He’d checked every app on his phone at least twenty times and already finished the book that he brought to read on the plane. He was officially out of things to keep his mind occupied.

Rolling his head to one side, he glanced at the boy he was sitting next to. He had seemed to give up on his phone as well and was now more interested in the buttons at the bottom of his coat.

“So are you from around here?” Louis asked loud enough so the boy knew the question was directed at him. His attention was caught immediately.

“Up north originally. I’ve just been going to school here. Yourself?” He tucked his hands between his knees, letting himself relax into the conversation.

“Same as you actually, but I dropped out of uni in my second year to manage the restaurant I’d been working at. Turns out, psychology isn’t really my thing.”

“Mine either. I took a class in it my first year just for the credits and barely scrapped by,” the boy breathed a laugh.

“So what are you studying?”

“English and Law. I’m hoping to become a lawyer.”

“How practical of you.”

“That’s me: practical and mundane.” The boy shrugged. “Whatever is stable, I guess.”

“Do you not want to be a lawyer?” Louis asked sincerely.

“No, I do. I could change my mind though. Maybe I’ll become an entertainer. Learn to do some card tricks or go join the circus.”

Louis had to make eye contact to ensure it was a joke because of how serious the boy sounded when he said it, but laughed when he saw the dimpled smile on the boy’s face.

“Now that’s ambitious. One could even say impractical.”

“I’m Harry, by the way,” he introduced, still holding the same smile.

“Louis. It’s good to meet you, Harry,” Louis nodded.

“You as well.”

A minute passed before either of them said anything else. Louis checked the time again, a task that had become repetitive long ago. 8:15pm. Barely any time had gone by, but he felt like he’d been here forever. He needed a break. He needed to move.

“Hey, are you hungry?” Louis asked. “All I’ve had since I’ve been here is a gross protein bar I brought with me.”

“Yeah, did you want to grab something? I’ve been eyeing that McDonalds for a while, but I wanted my phone to charge first.”

“What’s it at now?”

“Ninety-six.”

“So McDonalds?”

“Please!”

Harry stood up first, and rather fervently at that. He had only a brown shoulder bag as a carry-on and unplugged his phone to stuff the charger in it. Louis did the same, fully aware that he only charged his phone about five percent. Hopefully they could find a table near a plug-in while they ate.

No one else seemed to share the same craving for greasy burgers and chips as they did this evening. Louis walked right up to the cashier, already knowing he wanted chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce. After placing his order, he turned around to look at Harry.

“And what are you going to get?”

“Oh, I can pay for my own-”

“Don’t worry, I’ll pick up the tab. What do you want to order?”

Harry hesitated for a moment before telling the cashier, “I’ll just get a cheeseburger.”

“He’ll have a double cheeseburger meal,” Louis corrected, making passing eye contact with Harry so he could see his mischievous smile. “What? You just told me back there how hungry you were. I’m not sending you on that plane with a Happy Meal,” he said as he handed over money and the cashier exchanged it for two paper cups.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Harry told him when Louis handed him one of the cups and led him to the fountain pop machine.

“Consider it a small Christmas present from a stranger.”

“Or an acquaintance,” Harry smiled.

“Be careful or you might find you’ve even made yourself a friend.”

Louis began to fill his cup with coke while Harry went for the lemonade. Their food was ready only minutes later and Harry moved quickly to pick up the tray, trying to balance it in one hand while he followed Louis to a table near the wall.

“This is quite secluded. You do know there’s hardly anyone else here,” Harry commented as they sat down.

“Yes, which is exactly why I need to take advantage of all these empty wall sockets.” Louis pulled out his charger from his bag that was taking up the seat next to him, and showed it to Harry.

While Louis was getting himself situated, Harry passed out the food between them.

“So who do you have waiting back home for you? Just your parents?” Harry questioned after biting into a chip.

“Mum, step-dad, and my sisters.”

“How many do you have?”

“Four and I was the oldest of the siblings. It was quite the busy house growing up.”

“Sounds like it. I just have the one sister and my mum.”

“So that’s who you’re visiting I take it?” Louis asked as he dunked his second nugget into the dipping sauce.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen them since the summer holidays so I’ve been really excited to go back. This delay hasn’t really been helping that.” Harry motioned back to the seating area they were originally waiting at.

“Of course tonight had to be the night we get a storm. Right when everyone wants to go home for Christmas,” Louis huffed in disbelief and shook his head. “Most the flights already got cancelled, too. I’m just waiting for that call that ours is cancelled as well.”

“You don’t think that will actually happen, do you?” Harry kept a steady gaze on Louis when he asked, concern growing.

“I sure hope not, but you never know,” Louis shrugged.

Harry looked down slowly, picking a small piece of lettuce off his half eaten burger and dropping it back into the paper container. Louis glanced across the table at him as casually as he could. His eyes were looking blank and his movements slowed to a halt. Out the window across the other side of the building, Harry watched the snow come down heavy as ever. Louis could feel the anxiety building himself on Harry’s behalf. It was clear how much making it home for Christmas meant for him, this stranger that Louis just met while charging his phone. Louis wished he could do something to make it happen.

“Hey, after we finish eating, do you want to ask for an update?” Louis suggested. “Maybe it’ll ease the worry a bit.”

“Sure, that’s a good idea,” Harry nodded and turned his attention back to his food.

Five minutes later they were both done and Harry was carrying their tray of garbage to the bin while Louis followed close behind, his backpack now swung over one shoulder. Louis led the way back across the walkway and to the desk at their terminal where two air hostesses were chatting quietly to each other. When they noticed Louis, one gave a friendly smile and the other took a step back to tend to other business.

“What can I do for you two?” The woman asked in a chirpy voice.

“We were just wondering if you had any updates on the flight status,” Louis leaned his elbows on the desk when he asked.

“The expected departure time is now twenty-past-twelve early tomorrow morning, but with how unpredictable this weather is you never know when that time will change.”

“That’s almost four hours from now!” Harry exclaimed.

“I’m really sorry, but we hope to get everyone home for Christmas just as much as you want to be home.” The air hostess frowned.

“Alright, well, thank you,” Louis nodded and Harry mumbled a “thanks” as well.

“I’m starting to wonder if I should just head back to my flat for a while and come back later,” Harry sighed as they strolled towards an empty section of chairs in their terminal.

“Good luck getting a cab in this weather. Or any type of transportation, for that matter.” Louis told them as they sat down, one empty seat in between them.

They sat in silence for a few moments, both wondering whether they would even make it home at all. With each minute that ticked by, the chances that their flight would get cancelled all together were increasing.

Not only was Louis concerned for himself, but everyone else on his flight that might not get the chance to spend Christmas day with their families. All of the kids that wouldn’t be able to wake up to gifts from Santa. The elderly people who wanted to spend the holidays with their grandchildren to see how much they’ve grown. And the young people like them, who spend far too much time alone while away at school or work, and just really miss their mums.

“I think I have an idea,” Louis turned his head in Harry’s direction with determination in his eyes.

“What is it?”

Louis reached into his back pocket to find his wallet and pulled three twenty pound notes out of the centerfold. “I want you to go to every coffee shop you can find on this floor and buy all of the Christmas cookies they have until you run out of money.”

“Why do you want me to-” Harry began as Louis stuffed the money into his palm.

“Then once you have them I want you to meet me back here in twenty minutes.”

“You don’t even know me. How do you know I won’t just take your money and leave?”

“Because I think you’re the type of person I could trust. I also don’t think you’d be going very far any time soon,” Louis nodded towards the window and Harry looked down at the money and breathed a laugh.

“You said twenty minutes?” He moved only his eyes up to ask.

“Twenty minutes,” Louis affirmed.

“Right back here?” Harry asked again while Louis was already standing up.

“Yes, and don’t be late!” Louis said as he walked backwards, then turned to make a beeline towards the gift shop that was right next to the McDonald’s. He looked back out to the open walkway before entering and saw Harry approaching the Starbucks on the other end of the terminal.

Louis walked straight to the back wall first where he saw most of the hats reading something about London on them. None were quite Christmas-y enough for what he was looking for. In fact, nothing at the store seemed very Christmas-y at all except for the gold and silver tinsel that surrounded the cash register. Next to it, however, he did notice a small rack that seemed to have once held green headbands with reindeer antlers on them. The problem was that there was only one left.

Deciding it was better than nothing, Louis picked it up and turned to pay. Only, what he saw when he turned around was exactly what he was looking for. Right on top of the shopkeeper’s heard was a shimmering red Santa hat.

“Can I borrow that?” Louis blurted, pointing to the top of the older man’s head.

“You want to borrow my hat? What on Earth for?” The man grunted.

“A bit of a Christmas project. I could pay you for it! How about five pounds?”

“Ten and you have yourself a deal.” The shopkeeper eyed him.

“And I’ll get this as well, please.” Louis placed the reindeer headband on the counter and the man seemed even more confused, but rang it up anyway. When Louis handed over the money, the shopkeeper removed the Santa hat that revealed his balding head and gave it to the eager young man in front of him.

“Good luck with whatever it is you’re doing, kid,” the man told Louis, almost with a laugh as he collected his purchases.

“Thanks!” Louis grinned, thrilled that he was able to find exactly what he was looking for.

The next stop on his mental list was to the Starbucks he had just sent Harry to. He must’ve already been on to the next coffee shop because when Louis arrived he was no longer there and neither were any of the cookies in the display case of food.

“Do you have any of those boxes for hot drinks for large groups of people?” Louis asked the small blonde-haired barista that stood in front of him.

“Um, sir, this is an airport,” the girl said uncertainly.

“Right, uh, can I get twenty-five tall hot chocolates?” Louis spoke quickly and finished with a clenched-teeth smile.

“Did you say twenty five?!”

“Please?” he added for good measure.

The girl, not looking too pleased at the amount of drinks she’d have to make, typed the order into her computer. “That’ll be seventy-nine fifty.”

Louis gave her the money and threw an extra ten pound note into her tip jar, as well as the change he got in return. She began counting out the cups for the order and Louis glanced down the walkway towards the other coffee shop that was quite a few shops down. Harry looked to be waiting next to it for more cookies, already holding three other bags in his hand. If Louis wasn’t mistaken, there was one more café around the corner that he hoped Harry wouldn’t miss.

As the cups began stacking up, Louis grew more concerned about how he was actually going to carry all of these drinks back to the terminal. He would need at least five travel trays and really didn’t want to take more than one trip at risk of ruining the surprise. For each cup the girl handed him, Louis added it to another tray that he had laid out on two of the tables behind him. He was starting to get overwhelmed.

Just before he got handed the last cup, Harry strode over with about ten bags of cookies in his hands total.

“I thought I told you to meet back at the chairs,” accused Louis once he was in ear shot.

“You looked like you could use some help,” Harry said, looking at the mass amount of paper cups behind him.

“Actually, you are right about that.” Louis took that last cup that the girl had prepared and made sure to thank her for the hundredth time.

“Take this,” Harry was holding up the folded money that Louis originally gave him. “Once I caught on I figured I should contribute as well.”

Louis hesitated for a moment then asked, “Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

He took the money from Harry’s hand, then smiled warmly. “So should we get all of this over there?”

“Yes!” Harry spoke enthusiastically.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Louis stepped around the tables to where he left the hat and headband and picked them both up, placing the Santa hat on his head and sliding the reindeer antlers onto Harry’s.

“What’s this?” Harry laughed.

“I’m Santa and you’re my reindeer. Now come on!”

Without letting Harry protest, Louis stacked two trays in one hand and carefully picked up a third one with his other. With ease, Harry held another stack of trays in his left hand while the right somehow held all of the cookie bags he had collected. Feeling more cheerful than they had all day, they embarked back to their original terminal.

As they stood near the far corner, looking out at the people who they’ve been waiting with all day, they were met with tired and glum faces, most not even bothering to look in their direction, even considering the large quantities of food they were carrying.

With a joyful smile on his face, Louis first approached the young mother and her daughter with Harry still on his heels. The woman looked up from her book curiously and brushed away the dark hair from her face with her thin fingers.

“I don’t mean to bother you, but would you ladies like some hot chocolate or a Christmas cookie?” Louis asked sweetly, holding out one of the trays.

“Oh, that’s very kind of you, but-”

“It’s been a long day and I think everyone needs a little more cheer right now,” Harry stepped forward to add. “Please, it’s our treat.”

The woman paused and glanced toward her daughter with a small tight-lipped smile. The little girl was looking closely at Harry, who was unable to tell if she was more interested in his reindeer antlers or the cookies he was holding.

Harry leaned down to get more on her level. “Would you like a cookie?”

“Yes, please!” The girl exclaimed. Harry looked back at the mother for confirmation, who nodded her head. He picked the one shaped like Rudolf, red nose and all, and handed it to her.

“What do you say?” The mom whispered in her ear.

With a mouthful of the sugary cookie the girl replied, “Thank you!”

Louis made sure the mother took a hot chocolate for herself and Harry offered another cookie, which she accepted gratefully, before wishing them both a happy Christmas.

Next they moved on to the two teenagers in the back corner. They were looking sleepy, as were most of people waiting on their flight. The girl didn’t seem too keen on accepting food from strangers, but when her brother happily took one of each, then so did she.

Now that he had a free hand, Louis pulled out his phone and found an album of holiday music on it. He hit shuffle and stuck the phone in his back pocket so the music would hum in the background as they made their way around the room.

Once it caught on what they were doing, more people greeted them with smiles and made simple conversation. Not only with Louis and Harry, but amongst each other as well. Harry even seemed to find himself a friend in the little girl who they first offered the treats to. It turned out her name was Margret and she was practically attached to Harry’s leg once he assigned her the task of handing out the cookies personally. He even gave her his reindeer headband to wear which she displayed proudly on top of her blonde pigtails.

When they were getting down to their last few trays, there was only one more person left, the elderly man Louis noticed from early on in the evening who was spending far too much time coughing into a handkerchief. He still wore the same black snow hat over his head and had a scarf wrapped around his neck twice. You couldn’t tell his size by the amount of layers he was wearing, but his hands were very thin.

“Excuse me, mister,” Margret said when the three of them approached him. He looked up slowly. “Would you like some treats?”

“Oh, how nice. Sure, I would love a treat.” The man took a moment to straighten his posture as Margret dug out a cookie shaped like Santa and handed it to him. He thanked her and took a small nibble off the edge.

“Mmm, it’s delicious!” He said to her enthusiastically.

“Would you like a hot chocolate as well, sir?” Louis pulled a cup out of the tray and offered it to him.

“How generous, thank you boys,” he said graciously as he took the drink.

“So who are you off to see for the holidays?” asked Harry, who was now only holding his last remaining tray.

“My son and his family. Three beautiful kids, he has. Two girls and a little boy. I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like to and I’m afraid this Christmas might be my last to share with them.” The man smiled, but there was a flicker of sadness in his eyes. Louis knew right away what he meant by the last Christmas, but didn’t want to push for answers.

“I’m sure they will be thrilled to see you,” Louis said before Harry could add anything else.

“Well, thank you again for the drink and cookie,” the man smiled.

“Merry Christmas!” Margret wished sweetly.

“And merry Christmas to you all as well.”

When they stepped away, Harry and Louis took Margret back to her mother, who thanked them for letting her daughter join them and for the reindeer antlers that Harry let her keep. Looking around at the smiling faces that filled the room as the once-strangers sipped the hot drinks and made new friends, Louis glanced at Harry and realized he made himself a new friend as well. And quite a good one at that, he believed.

They still had a tray and a half of hot chocolates left by the time they were finished handing them out and about a dozen cookies.

“Why don’t you offer some to the two air hostesses over there?” Louis suggested, nodding towards the women who had helped them out with a question earlier on. “They’d probably appreciate the gesture more than anyone.”

“You don’t want to come with me?” Harry asked.

“Actually, I have one other person in mind. I’ll be right back.”

Louis pulled one of the few remaining drinks out of the carrying container and took a paper bag that had two leftover cookies in it. Briskly, he walked across the terminal back towards the gift shop that he first visited. As he suspected, the same gruff looking man was still sat on a stool behind the counter, resting his arms on his round belly as he read a magazine.

“Sorry to disturb you, but I thought you might like a hot drink and some cookies. A friend and I were passing them out to the other people in our terminal while we waited for our delayed flight, so I reckoned I’d bring you some as well.”

The shopkeeper looked Louis up and down as he stood from his stool, the expression on his face unreadable.

“This was you needed my hat for?”

“Oh, um, yes. I just thought I’d make it a bit more festive.”

When the shopkeeper didn’t say anything else, Louis decided to place his offerings on the counter and turned to leave quietly.

“Wait!” The man called and Louis turned around quickly. “Uh, thanks for this. And merry Christmas.” He said it like it was an obligation, but Louis felt the sincerity all the same. There was even a bit of a twinkle in his eye, the first sign of genuine happiness he’d seen from the old shopkeeper.

“You’re very welcome,” Louis nodded with purpose, “Merry Christmas!”

When Louis returned to the seating area, Harry was back at the row right in front of the window with the rest of their leftovers and looking giddy as ever. Louis furrowed his brow as he strolled closer, seeing Harry was holding a piece of paper in his hand.

“What’s going on with you?” Louis asked curiously.

“When I gave those drinks to the air hostesses, they told me they had one more seat left on a second flight that was set to leave in twenty minutes. They gave it to me, but I thought you should have it.” Harry held out the ticket towards Louis, who almost physically leaned away from it.

“Me? But you’re the one who said he hasn’t seen his family in months. I think you should take it, really. I couldn’t.”

“Louis, look around you. Look at what you did for all of those people. You probably made their Christmas.”

With a soft sight, Louis sat in the seat directly next to Harry. “All I did was buy them food. I bought you food, did the McDonald’s burger make your Christmas?”

“Well, I’m thinking meeting you did, if that’s what you mean.”

Louis could feel his cheeks turning red and he really wished they would stop because he didn’t want to embarrass himself.

“It was your idea to begin with. You brought all these people together, people who were probably feeling miserable about the possibility of missing Christmas.”

“You did just as much as I did and I want you to have the ticket,” Louis said firmly.

“Well I’m not taking it.”

Stubbornness was getting them nowhere and someone had to take the ticket. There was no use in letting the seat go to waste when someone could be on their way home in the next hour. And with a quick glance across the aisle, Louis knew exactly who that person should be.

Taking Harry by the elbow, he pulled him forward and nodded towards the old man. Harry, understanding right away what he meant, nodded his approval. They approached the older gentleman confidently and Harry held out the ticket towards the man, who had just given his attention.

“What’s this?” he asked softly.

“Your ticket home. The last one left. I hope you don’t mind a window seat,” Harry said.

The man looked up at them with confusion written all over his face. “I don’t understand,” he shook his head.

“There was one last plane leaving and I guess someone had to cancel their flight.”

“We want you to take the seat,” Louis added. “You better hurry though. You board in twenty minutes.”

“I don’t know what to say,” he said as he stared in disbelief at the ticket in his hand.

“You don’t have to say anything. Just wish your son and his family a happy Christmas for us.”

“Thank you,” the man stood up slowly, yet still eagerly, and hugged each of them. “You don’t know how much I appreciate this.”

“You’re welcome. Have a safe flight!” Harry told the man, who was taking his roller suitcase and saying thank you a thousand more times while Harry and Louis waved him off, feeling quite good about their deed. Louis didn’t say it out loud, but he hoped greatly that the man had many more Christmases to come.

“We still have more hot chocolate and cookies,” Louis nudged Harry lightly in the ribs to say.

“That sounds fantastic.”

Sitting next to the window and watching the storm ease up, Harry and Louis sipped on lukewarm hot chocolate and ate way more cookies than they probably should have. For the next few hours, they made easy conversation about their schooling, families, hobbies, and anything they could think of. Margret even stopped by once more to say “hi” before her mom tried to put her down for a nap as the time was nearing midnight. This definitely was not the worst company Louis could be spending Christmas Eve with. In fact, he was starting to wonder how it could get any better.

Before they knew it, a voice was sounding over the intercom to let them know that their plane was just about to arrive and to be ready to board, something they had all been ready to do for hours. Harry glanced at his phone for a moment as relieved a chorus of relieved sighs surrounded them.

“Look, its Christmas.” Harry proudly showed Louis the lock screen that had the date of December 25th displayed on it.

“Hey, um, do you think you’d want to maybe get together sometime when we both get back to London?” Louis asked warily, hoping desperately that Harry would say yes.

“I’d really like that. Here, let me put my number in your phone.”

“Yeah, of course.” Trying to hide his excitement, Louis took his phone out of his pocket and tried to turn it on so he could enter the password. Only, it wouldn’t turn on no matter how many times he held down the power button.

Louis laughed to himself, holding up the blank screen. “I guess I never got around to charging my phone. That music must have killed in completely.”

“No worries, you can just put your number in mine and text me when you get around to charging it.”

So that’s exactly what he did. After the flight that felt like hours without a phone, but was really only one, he got in a cab in his old home town. The roads were empty and he watched the snow fall lightly around him, much less like the flurry it was in London and more like how Christmas should be.

When he walked in the front door he kept as quiet as he could, since everyone was already asleep, and crept up the stairs to his warm bed in his childhood room where he plugged his phone in before even taking off his jacket. When the screen turned on, he sat on the small twin-sized bed with Spider-Man bedsheets that his mum always left on just to tease him, and typed out the message to Harry.

_I was glad to make your acquaintance. I think I was right about making a friend as well. Is there another stage after we meet up some time? –the stranger from the airport._


End file.
